Problem: Stephanie earns a base salary of $400.00 every week with an additional 9% commission on everything she sells. If Stephanie sold $3850.00 worth of items last week, what was her total salary?
First, find the amount of commission made by using the following formula: commission rate $\times$ total sales $=$ amount of commission made Since the commission rate is a percentage, we have to convert it into a decimal first. Percent means "out of one hundred," so $9\%$ is equivalent to $\frac{9}{100}$ which is also equal to $9 \div 100$ $9 \div 100 = 0.09$ Now you have all the information you need to find the amount of commission made: $0.09$ $\times$ $$3850.00$ $=$ $$346.50$ We can find the total salary for Stephanie by adding the amount of commission made to her base salary. amount of commission made $+$ base salary $=$ total salary $$346.50$ $+$ $$400.00$ $=$ $$746.50$ The total salary Stephanie made last week was $$746.50$.